Ron Perlman Scared The Pants Off Of Tom Hardy During Star Trek: Nemesis
In Stuart Baird's 2002 film "Star Trek: Nemesis," Tom Hardy plays Shinzon, a human clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), grown in a lab by the dastardly spies in the Romulan Empire. When their clone plot didn't quite turn out the way that they wanted, the Romulans disavowed Shinzon's existence and sent him as a young boy to be enslaved in a Reman mine. The Remans were a cousin species of the Romulans that had been enslaved for many generations. Shinzon would grow up among the goblin-looking Remans, sharing their plight. Perhaps possessed of Picard's knack for leadership, Shizon would eventually lead a Reman uprising against the Romulans. "Nemesis" was the first time Trekkies ever caught a glimpse of the Remans. Shinzon's massive warship, the Scimitar, would be staffed entirely by Reman officers.
Most notably, Shinzon's unnamed right-hand man, a Reman Voiceroy, would be played by Ron Perlman, an actor who has spent more time in the makeup chair than some college students have been alive. Perlman's character is mildly psychic and would regularly place his hands on Shinzon's scalp, allowing his commanding officer to project himself into other people's minds. The Viceroy also regularly encouraged Shinzon, usually to no response, to undergo a complex medical procedure that would prevent his genetic material from breaking down (as a result of his clone-ness).
According to the book "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams," edited by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, Hardy was terrified of Perlman. Hardy was a young upstart in 2002, having only appeared in RIdley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" and the military thriller "Deserter." He was looking forward to working with Perlman, but he didn't expect a jump scare from his co-star at their first meeting.
Perlman's yellow eyes
Perlman, in contrast to Hardy, had already enjoyed an extensive and impressive career by 2002, having appeared in his first feature film, "Quest for Fire," when Hardy was only four years old. In 1987, Perlman landed his star-making role in the TV series "Beauty and the Beast," wherein he played Vincent, the Beast to Linda Hamilton's Beauty. Indeed, Perlman's striking features and intense acting style frequently saw him playing creatures and monsters (including the Sayer of the Law in "The Island of Doctor Moreau," the titular character in the "Hellboy" movies, and a protohuman in "Quest for Fire").
By all accounts, Perlman is a kind, plainspoken, intelligent, and talented man. Hardy recalled those things about Perlman on the set of "Star Trek: Nemesis" and hoped that his co-star would be able to be appropriately terrifying as the Reman Viceroy. Hardy, it seems, needn't have worried, as Perlman gave him quite a scare when they first met. In Hardy's own words:
"Ron Perlman is a splendid man. His acting is fine and it was brilliant to work with him, because he's such a kind and generous and funny bloke. My first thought was that if Shinzon was a Napoleon or Hitler-y type — a spoiled bastard in a way — the right-hand man, the Viceroy, has got to be big and mean and hard and scary. I saw Ron Perlman's photo and I thought, 'Oh, he's not that scary. He's got to scare me.' On set one day I saw him from the back. He turned around and had these yellow eyes in and Geez! I was really scared. I couldn't look at him."
Remans, as seen in the above photos, have a goblin-like appearance. One can see why Hardy might have been startled.
Perlman's side of things
Perlman, quite conversely, wasn't terrified of Hardy at all. Indeed, Perlman saw nothing more than an impressively talented young man who recognized that "Star Trek" was a plum gig. In a 2010 interview with the Star Trek website, Perlman admitted that he was happy to finally have been invited to be part of the franchise, even if it meant more hours in the makeup chair. He also recalled his first meeting with Hardy and what a pleasant experience he had. In Perlman's words:
"Tom has become probably one of the most sought-after actors in the world. Did you see this movie he did, 'Bronson?' It was brilliant. And [now in 2010] Tom is in everything. I loved him when I first met him. I loved working with him. I found him to be really smart, really a great kid. He was much younger then. He was also really humble and knew that he was kind of living a charmed life by playing major roles in major motion pictures. Everything I like about an actor was in this kid, and I'm so happy to see what's happening to him now."
In 2010, Perlman appeared in "Season of the Witch," "Acts of Violence, the stylized actioner "Bunraku," the low-budget thriller "Killer By Nature," an animated kids film called "The Legend of Secret Pass," and the Disney hit "Tangled." In 2010, Hardy was only in an (ahem) obscure sci-fi film called "Inception" directed by Christopher Nolan. Perlman noted that Tom Hardy "is in everything," although he has always been far more prolific. Perhaps he was thinking of himself.